Posts Tagged ‘Art’

Along with the mild spike in sunshine this past few weeks, some of you may have noticed another influx in your area: college students, running free, wild, and naked in the streets. Spring break! Five days of release from the shackles of schooldom. Freedom. Monday, though, brought the party to an end, and students across the city are settling back in and setting their eyes on the home stretch. For Art and Photography/Media Graduate students at CalArts, though, the “home stretch” means one thing: running free, wild, naked in the streets. That’s right, folks—it’s time for the CalArts MFA Open Studios.
On Sunday, April 11th, from 2:00 to 7:00pm, more than 60 artists studying at the California Institute for the Arts will open their studios to the public. Each artist will be present and light refreshments will be provided—a great opportunity to hobnob with some of the city’s most promising creative minds. Or to just get some free food and look at cool stuff. It’s free of charge, free of pretense, clothing optional. Freedom!

By Helen Kearns

Please visit the website for directions and artist information. Reservations not required.

There has long been a debate about whether graffiti is a form vandalism or a form of art with neither side gaining more than a few significant strides.  With the increasing popularity of Banksy and Shepard Fairey, though, graffiti arts’ critics may have been momentarily silenced.  A recent “fine arts graffiti” stunt in both Los Angeles and New York had us wondering what you all think.  Graffiti: Art? Or Vandalism?

Artist Mat Benote has, over the years, experimented with starting discussions (in diplomatic terms) about the money museums spend on works by famous artists as well as asking the time honored question: is graffiti art beautiful or intrusive?  From altering other artists’ work to creating abstract sculptures only to be left wherever he pleases and covertly inserting his own works on the walls of major museums, Benote has definitely gotten people talking.  Last week, he hung his own pieces (complete with information plaques) at our own LACMA and Hammer Museums as well as at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.  Hung during normal business hours amongst regular patrons, museum guards, and security cameras, he does have a sort of Thomas Crown Affair appeal.  His website states that one intention is to “be a catalyst in the continuing process of merging high art and low art.”

So… is he vandalizing or making a true artistic statement? Is he starting a worthy discussion among artists and museums or is he acting like a petulant child?  The jury is out at Fine Arts LA headquarters, but let us know what you think! 

Los Angeles has the highest quotient of rising film and TV stars that come from all corners of the world to make it big.  I mean, who isn’t in the business here?  To shake it up a little, the latest installment of the REDCAT’s quarterly Studio series will debut, this Sunday and Monday, with another rising class of performers to Los Angeles: the art star.

Curated by Chi-wang Yang and Anna B. Scott, “Studio: Spring 2009” takes new work and works-in-progress of local artists from all genres–dance, music, theatre, performance art, multimedia, and even puppetry–to exemplify the wide range of talent our dear city contains.

Highlights include Peggy Jo Pabustan and Sasha Gransjean’s Performance Art For Everyday Life, a funny, yet disturbing performance demonstrating role-playing techniques; Bethany Ward-Lawe’s Color Me Purple, a dance/burlesque/drag piece focused on the sexual appeal of His Purple Highness Prince; and L’Espirit d’Afrique’s Axe Urbano, a dance based work featuring the Pan-African music/dance ensemble.

 You don’t need headshots, a Zed card, or a really pushy agent.  You don’t need anything but a ticket.

For more information about the REDCAT’s Studio: Spring 2009, please call: 213.237.2800 or visit their website at www.redcat.org.